


Some Things Never Change

by Litastic



Series: Shots of Jupiter [6]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-02
Updated: 2017-11-02
Packaged: 2019-01-28 15:06:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12609332
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Litastic/pseuds/Litastic
Summary: I couldn't seem to find the original poster of this AU so if you have the link or name of the person who thought of it let me know! Credit where credit is due and all that jazz. Also, thank you luna for picking a title and editing! All my love and gratitude.Prompt: "An au where once a year on their death-day, ghosts re-experience their death and Danny, in typical fashion, experiences his at the worst moment possible."





	Some Things Never Change

"Okay, now turn your signal on and be sure to shoulder check and make sure nobody's crossing the street and did you shoulder check yet? Where's your blinker? Are you even listening to me? You're going too fast! Slow down!"

"Jazz! I already made the turn now can you stop spazzing out for just one sec?" Danny snapped, a flicker of green sparked in his eyes. He could feel her breath tickling his ears, as she barked out instructions far too loudly for her proximity. Of course Jazz would bribe Mom and Dad to get her to be his driving instructor.

She promptly tucked a stray piece of fiery red hair behind an ear, sheepishly scooting back into her seat. Her eyes were still frantically flicking to the road and back to her brother, whose grip had tightened on the steering wheel.

"I'm just making sure you're constantly on your toes while driving," She continued on in her usual overprotective sister tone. To be fair, Danny wasn't doing all too bad as a novice. Sure he was a bit fidgety, but otherwise he was pretty confident. Thank goodness he didn't inherit Dad's driving skills. "You never know what could happen on the road! You have to be able to deal with any distractio- DANNY LOOK OUT!"

The small lavender sedan comically tilted on its side as it swerved around an unsuspecting bunny, its nose twitching innocently, watching its potential murderer hurtle by. Brakes screeched, the car spun wildly tracing large S's across the fortunately quiet road.

The two Fentons bounced in their seats as all four wheels reacquainted themselves with the road. Jazz was clinging onto every surface possible like a trapped mouse. White knuckled and ashen faced, she turned to Danny with impossibly wide eyes, her mouth opened and ready to release a flood of unsavoury comments. Instead, she froze with an even more stricken look on her face.

Danny pulled into a small empty parking lot and had barely shut off the engine before guffawing in utter glee. He wiped a tear from his eye unable to stop his avalanche of giggles, another hand clutching his gut for more emphasis. "Oh man! Jazz y-your face! Man do I ever wish I have a camera right now!" He barely managed between his uncontrollable fits of laughter.

Jazz stared for another second before a burning flush raced to her cheeks. She smoothed down her clothes and crossed her arms. Sitting perfectly upright, she stuck her nose in the air and glared at her infuriating brother. "Danny! It's not funny! We could've gotten seriously injured!"

This seemed to calm her brother down a fraction of a notch. "Aw come on, Jazz. I've dodged bigger and scarier missiles with the Spectre Speeder. This was a piece of cake compared to that." The remaining chuckles flutter away from his lips. "Besides, if we do crash it'll be because of your constant nagging. I can see it now in the headlines," He dramatically swiped a palm in the air as he announced the tile, shooting a playful grin at Jazz, _"Fenton siblings found dead in tragic accident due to overbearing older sister."_

She huffed, masking the concern on her face with frustration. For someone who had such a close encounter with death, her brother sure had a morbid sense of humour. Danny seemed to catch on, the smirk long gone from his face. She never was good at hiding her emotions.

"Hey, I saw a 7-11 just down the street. C'mon I'll even buy you that gross yogurt drink you practically live off of." He stepped out of the car, easily dispelling the tension they had between them not seconds ago. Her shoulders drooped and followed suit, for once not having the energy to pick apart his thoughts. She already wasted too much of it keeping her heart from jumping out of her chest just minutes ago.

"Other than almost running over Bugs Bunny, how'd I do?" Danny's voice perked up after a moment of walking across the deserted parking lot. His hands were resting in his hoodie pocket, lean shoulders set in a confident posture. Jazz had to take two steps to keep up with his one stride. He was a full head taller than her now. She wondered when her brother had grown up so much. It seemed like only yesterday that her baby brother was looking up at her with those wide blue eyes.

She smiled up at him brightly, full of pride for more reasons than the present thought. "Not too bad, little brother."

"Ja-azz, I'm not that little anymore." He whined, not at all helping his claim.

"Yeah, but I'm still older than you." She tilted her chin up, flashing him a smile and picked up the pace swiftly overtaking him. She skipped towards the bright 7-11 sign, allowing herself a moment to revel in her comeback. Jazz didn't bother looking back until an unsettling silence fell upon the warm afternoon. Either Danny had really grown up or he had suddenly lost the ability to construct a snarky remark. Both of which were highly unlikely in her thoughts.

And then she heard it.

Jazz knew, as soon as it broke through her ear drums that this was not a sound she could ever forget. No matter how hard she tried. It had taken a sweltering iron bar and shoved its way into her mind, ingraining a burning, immovable brand.

Danny's screams vibrated her entire being and she didn't know when she had crossed the distance between her and his convulsing body pressed pitifully against the hot cement. The rising decibels of his howls pounded against her skull. Her lips moved. She couldn't hear herself, but she was sure she was calling his name. It was so loud.

It lasted ten seconds. Ten seconds she would never, ever be able to erase from her life.

Her ears rang from the screams still echoing faintly in the background, an eerie counterpoint to his now rasping breaths. Her brother had been hit with everything every ghost has thrown at him and she had been privy to his pained shouts before, but this - this was unlike anything she had ever witnessed. It was horribly, painfully new. It was like being stabbed in the same spot over and over again; felt like skin slowly being ripped off your body.

It was the sound of pure, unadulterated anguish.

And it came out of her little brother's writhing body.

Her face was suddenly wet, and she noticed detachedly that she was crying.

Danny had briefly let her in on the details of the accident, dumbing it down to him being zapped and walking out looking like some photo-negative version of himself. _It just happened Jazz, so can you just drop it?_ His words played back in her mind. She remembered feeling even more curious than ever. Now she just felt awful. She concluded absently that Danny was simply trying to protect her from his hidden torment. He always did try to protect everyone. Her vision blurred again and she blinked hard.

Danny's sweat-ridden face was cradled in her lap as she sat numbly on the uneven concrete ground. She ran her fingers through his matted hair comfortingly, hoping to diffuse her brother's distress. His body spasmed every few seconds eliciting a miserable whimper causing her to flinch each time.

It felt like eons before she saw dull blue peek through heavy eyelids. His lips parted, a sound crossed between a cough and a wheeze tumbled out. She held him closer, hugging his shaking shoulders close to her chest, as his head lolled against her neck.

"J-ja...zz..?" She fought back more tears at the sound of her brother's broken voice.

"It's okay, little brother. It's okay." He was easily twice her size, but in that moment in her arms, he seemed very, very small.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
